Handmade jewelry, woodcraft and much more will line the tables as local vendors provide the perfect opportunity for residents to get a head start on their Christmas shopping while supporting a good cause.

Michele Roberts
For Carolina Gateway
INDIAN LAND – An Indian Land family has made a bike ride for charity a family tradition, with three generations riding together in the annual Bike MS: PGA Tour 150K Cycle to the Shore bike ride, held Sept. 28-29 in Florida.
Ricky Montgomery, 44, has participated in the ride six times.
His father, David Montgomery, 74, has ridden in the event for 15 years.

Staff Reports
Two Lancaster County Sheriff’s deputies traveled to Albuquerque, N.M., to compete in the National Police Shooting Championships Sept. 13-17.
The NPSC is an annual event held in Albuquerque and features about 300 law enforcement officers from all over the country and several from foreign countries. The NPSC is comprised of a multitude of different shooting events. Competitors choose which events they participate in.

Chris McGinn
For The Lancaster News
“We are in an ever-deepening child-rearing crisis, and we need to wake up!” parenting expert John Rosemond told parents at Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church on Sept. 22.
The church invited Rosemond to deliver his “Parenting with Love and Leadership from Tots to Teens,” a three-hour seminar on his common-sense approach to child-rearing. About 40 parents attended the event in the church sanctuary.

Seven years ago, Tom and Hope Davis chose Lancaster as their new home. Relocating here from Virginia, they headed south to be closer to their children who live in Belmont, N.C., and at the time, a little further away in Florida. While home searching, they found the perfect house at 4060 Flint Drive in the Shiloh Commons neighborhood.

Members of Lancaster County EMS, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department and the city of Lancaster Fire Department are coming together for a night of fun and comedy to raise money for the Disabled American Veterans Chapter in Lancaster.

The “Tribute To Veterans – A Variety and Comedy Show” will take place on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Bundy Auditorium at University of South Carolina Lancaster.

October is Family Promise Awareness Month, when a local and national focus is put on the problem of homelessness – more specifically the homelessness of children – in Lancaster County and across the country.

Family Promise was founded in 1988 and is a national non-profit organization that mobilizes communities and existing resources to help homeless families regain their independence.

Sunday, Oct. 20, will simultaneously mark two firsts for Lancaster – the first piano-string trio performance since the Vivian Major Robinson Concert series began more than 10 years ago, and the first ever piano-string performance at the Cultural Arts Center.

Three talented musicians from different parts of the globe form the Sekino-Kim-Gruber trio.

Theater lovers, mark your calendars – the Community Playhouse of Lancaster County is bringing the Harper Lee classic “To Kill A Mockingbird” to the stage at the Barr Street Auditorium this month.

Directed by Chris Smith, this revised version of “To Kill A Mockinbird” by Christopher Sergel tells the story of Scout, her brother Jem and her father, the attorney Atticus Finch, who finds himself defending a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. The time is 1935, the place is southern Alabama.

Kershaw Area Resource Community Exchange (KARE) announces a weekend of beauty and hope. With an eye on the future, KARE continues not only to assist neighbors in financial crisis, but also empower them to take charge of their futures.

Through educational workshops – a program that continues to expand – participants are taught various skills that will assist in money saving, further life skill development, networking and more.

There I was, sitting at my desk, writing a story on deadline and sipping from a tall cup of iced coffee, when I heard a comment that turned my head.

“Chris, I just have to tell you that I can’t stand iced coffee,” said my coworker, and occasional chef, Greg Summers. “Hot coffee is where it’s at. I’ll never figure out the appeal of that cold stuff. I just don’t get it. Coffee is ’sposed to be hot enough to take hair off a hog’s back.”

Wendy Winn knew from the time she was a little girl what she wanted to be when she grew up – a performer.

A 2012 graduate from Andrew Jackson High School, Winn was part of the art-focused curriculum and had shown a gift t for music all through her school years.

Now a sophomore at Belmont College in Nashville, Tenn., Winn is studying commercial voice with an emphasis in music business and vocal performance in order to continue to pursue her dream of a career in singing.

Rita Vogel, the new director for the three Lancaster County libraries, envisions the library system becoming even more of a valuable resource for information and connections, assisting in the advancement of the people of Lancaster County.

“I want people to see the library as a place where they can find reason for hope,” Vogel said. “I would like to train people to see what good information we have for them to use at their fingertips.”

The annual S.C. Botanical Garden Fall Plant Sale is Oct. 4-5 at the gardens on the Clemson University campus. The staff has assembled an extensive collection of unique and seldom-offered plant species that will thrive under local growing conditions.